Published: 3 December 2024
Last updated: 3 December 2024
When 90 people – writers and other toilers in Australia’s book industry – got together and sent five books about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to all 227 members of the federal parliament, I thought "good on them".
What could be wrong with sending books to MPs about a conflict that is having such a profound effect on Australian society, on Australian multiculturalism and on the wellbeing of Australian Jews and Australian Muslims?
The more they knew and understood about a conflict with a complicated and contested history going back more than 100 years– the better able our members of parliament would be to listen to and act on the concerns and fears and hopes of their constituents.
Many of their constituents have been deeply traumatised by what happened on October 7, 2023 and by its aftermath, the war – that is still not over – between Hamas and Israel.
Books by Israeli writers and writers who in today’s world would be described as Zionists are wholly absent from the books that were sent to the 227 MPs
In a letter to the MPs, the group of writers and literary workers describe the books that have gone to every member of parliament as "authoritative, highly readable books" that will counter the lack of nuance in the public debate about Israel and the Palestinians.
This in my view, is contestable to say the least. I am not making a judgement on the readability or even the power of these books when I say this is a partisan list in the sense that books by Israeli writers and writers who in today’s world would be described as Zionists are wholly absent from the books that were sent to the 227 MPs.
Comments5
Glenn Mulcaster5 December at 11:56 pm
Find books from both lists at your nearest library through Worldcat:
Michael Gawenda’s Summer Reading List for Australian MHRs and Senators
https://search.worldcat.org/lists/08928c9c-1271-4975-8223-9adda752cc7b
Summer Reading List for Australian MHRs/Senators, endorsed by APAN/JCA
https://search.worldcat.org/lists/857fba01-a9e6-4be4-8a6e-7f38cac92f68
Bella3 December at 03:01 pm
Thank goodness Gawenda didn’t choose Lowenstein’s book – he couldn’t even get the map of Israel correct.
Christopher Clarke3 December at 09:08 am
The book by Noa Tisby is useful ONLY as an example of glib Zionist advocacy that dismisses the history of Israeli aggression and atrocity towards the Palestinians.
By all means, read it. But be prepared to toss it in the trash bin when you are finished.
Jeff Loewenstein3 December at 07:54 am
What a surprise!!! Gawenda has chosen books – including his own of course!!! – which are one-dimensional and one-sided. Balanced? Of course not! If Gawenda and his cohorts think that the selection of books will deflect the MPS from overlooking or ignoring Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon (“ethnic cleansing” according to Israel’s one-time Defence Minister yesterday) they are deluding themselves.
Naomi Vallins3 December at 06:23 am
Please include “The War of Return” by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf, both of the left, he a journalist and she a former MK, thinker and researcher. They analyze why the right of return is at the root of the conflict and cogently explain the reasons for this. They show how it is an obstacle to peace. Brilliant too is their discussion of UNWRA and how it has created a permanent Palestinian refugee problem which actually ends up leaving Palestinians in limbo – cant go back but cant move forward either